Currently, institutions, such as government agencies (e.g., department of motor vehicles), issue identity cards or documents which may be used to identify a person or verify aspects of a person's personal identity. Identity document may include, for example, a driver's license, a fishing license, a hunting license, a passport, a health insurance card, a firearm owner's identification card, a boating license, a commercial driver's license, etc. Typically, such identity documents are issued in the form of a thermal plastic card or paper by these institutions (or “issuer”) based on user data (e.g., name, address, birthdate, height, etc. of the user) stored in databases.
Unfortunately, by relying upon thermal plastic cards or paper, there are several drawbacks. For example, when a user presents an identity document, such as to a verifier (e.g., merchant), there is no choice but to present the entire identity document which may include personal information that is not needed to be seen by the verifier. For example, a merchant does not need to know the address of the individual when the individual is purchasing alcoholic beverages to verify that the individual is over 21 years of age. However, when the individual presents a driver's license to the merchant, the merchant will have access to information besides the age of the individual, such as the name and address of the individual.
Other drawbacks include requiring to physically recreate and reissue another identity document based on changes that are reflected in the identity document, such as a change in address or a change in a person's name. However, by physically recreating and reissuing another identity document, there may be a period of time in which the user has no current accurate identity document.
Another drawback is that the ability to present information regarding the services (e.g., phone number of a nurse help line) concerning the particular type of identity document (e.g., health insurance card) is limited based on the physical size and layout of the identity document.
Hence, the current process in issuing identity documents in the form of thermal plastic cards or paper is subject to several drawbacks.